Losing To The Social Web: Visualized | Digital Buzz Blog

A brands website has been the single biggest ”online” focus for 99% of businesses over the last 10 years apart from banner campaigns and microsites here and there, but with the evolution of social media growing at unheard of rates (Twitter is up over 3500% alone this year, while Facebook increased over 700% to finally overtake MySpace and then turned them to dust!) businesses really need to think about what’s happening to their website traffic…

via Losing To The Social Web: Visualized | Digital Buzz Blog.

McDonald’s: Spin Art – Interactive (image) – Creativity Online

Although McDonald’s pulled the plug on its big smoothie giveaway it still has this new SpinArt site to celebrate the launch of its new blended fruit drink line. The online Spirograph game aims to show the “real art” to making a smoothie and invites visitors to make circular creations at varying degrees and speeds of splattering and spraying.

via McDonald’s: Spin Art – Interactive (image) – Creativity Online.

Twitter Sees Sizable Ad Business

Twitter is ready to declare success in its initial revenue-building efforts, and casts an even wider net by launching limited-time deals feed @earlybird, which provides time-sensitive offers from advertisers.

Disney has signed up for the first offer: a two-for-one ticket promotion for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which debuts in the U.S. today. The tweet takes users to a Fandango page to purchase the tickets with a discount code.

via Twitter Sees Sizable Ad Business.

Flipboard

Another day, another new app that seems hellbent on proving once again why you dropped $500+ on that shiny new iPad. Flipboard Free is a new “social magazine” application that grabs info from your Facebook and Twitter feeds, as well as from other sources around the web, and presents them in a magazine-like layout, complete with large images, clean typefaces, and a general panache that goes well beyond the average client — which is making our standalone social apps more than a little nervous.

via Flipboard.

Gold Lion: Interactive Coke Vending Machine

This is probably the coolest vending machine you’ve ever seen! The new Coca-Cola Interactive vending machine won a Gold Cannes Lion in 2009 and will be rolled out across the globe over the next 12 months. Coke say they are moving their vending machines from generic product selection to experiential marketing experiences for every consumer.

The new Coca-Cola Interactive vending machine gives you a full touch screen experience with great content while ordering custom coke bottles in full HD. Very  very cool. Continue reading

Digital Special Issue: Gaming

CODE

Gaming has come of age. Joystick-obsessed guys who once hunkered down in basements for hours and dominated the medium now have guests. Women and kids are latching onto smartphones and other devices to play. Whether families — armed with Wii remote controls-bond bowling the night away or consumers on the go play  individual or social networking games, the medium is reaching new audiences and heights. Marketers are tapping into the zeitgeist that people like to play and that their lives are more fun when a little competition is involved. Read Full Article

Eyes on the Prize

Life can at times seem little more than a pastiche of mundane moments, stitched together and mostly forgotten. Many people spice things up by making a game of their daily tasks, whether it’s eating out at a restaurant, taking a shower or walking to the corner store. The combination of digital tracking technology that collects huge amounts of data with social media platforms for broadcasting minutiae has spawned a cottage industry of applications that promise a dizzying array of options for tracking and comparing daily activities. These applications, if widely adopted, could hold the key for marketers looking for new ways to  influence consumer behavior.

Will tracking consumer behavior generate sales? more »

Another ‘thumbs down’ for the iPhone 4

Consumer Reports said Monday that — after testing three different iPhone 4s — it cannot recommend buying Apple’s (AAPL 257.82, +0.54, +0.21%) latest gadget. The magazine confirmed there is a reception problem with the antenna, which surrounds the phone, adding that the problem does not exist on earlier iPhone models or on other devices sold for AT&T’s network. See full story here.